Commentary on the world around us by an 'ordinary Aussie'.
I believe that the individual, their rights, freedoms and aspirations form the basic building blocks of a free society. I'm for; .Individual Rights, Freedom, Responsibility; .An Australian Republic (with a directly elected Head of State with real, codified reserve powers); .A Bill of Rights (with RKBA); .Direct Democracy (Initiative, Referendum, Recall); .Accessable, quality education; .A strong defence force; .Free markets.

Saturday, December 22, 2007

Ancient Astronomy - Fascinating!

We are so fortunate these days in the information available to us and the technology that delivers it. (In this case, I mean pay TV - cable to some, in our household's case delivered by satellite).

I was watching (I think) 'Discovery' channel earlier and the show was about Stonehenge, which there is little doubt was an ancient astronomical calculator. Knowing when the winter solstice happens, accurately, is a huge aid in knowing when to prepare ground and plant crops, for example.

The show also fleetingly covered what are described as 'the Golden Hats', which themselves appear to be astronomical calculators. One interesting thing (of many) was that several of these items were found in various places in Europe, suggesting Bronze age Europe was quite homogeneous. (There are even earlier 'calculators').

But the REAL lesson is that our ancestors of 3-4,000 years ago were very much more advanced, and accomplished in the sciences than most people these days give them credit for. The could determine summer and winter solstice, track the moon phases. They also knew about Metonic cycles as well it seems. Fascinating stuff.

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"€œGood people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf."€� - George Orwell
"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!" - Benjamin Franklin